US to restructure executives' pay practices

May 13, 2009 18:13 IST

The United States is considering a major overhaul of compensation practices in the country's financial services industry.

"Obama administration officials are contemplating a major overhaul of the compensation practices in the financial services industry, moving beyond banks to include more loosely regulated hedge funds and private equity firms," The New York Times has reported.

The daily said Federal policymakers have been looking at ways to ensure that pay is more closely linked to performance.

In the wake of the economic turmoil, extravagant pay packets for top executives, especially on the Wall Street, has come under severe criticism from several quarters.

Recently, the US imposed restriction on the compensation for companies receiving funds from the government.

The daily said ideas under consideration include expanding the existing regulatory powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Reserve to obtain more information regarding compensation.

"Any overhaul is likely to be tied to the Obama administration's broader efforts to curb systemic risks to the economy. That means the new rules could apply to financial firms like hedge funds or private equity firms that never accepted money from the TARP," the report noted.